Details emerge, recommendations made in Rutland police attack

Jennifer Berube, 39, smuggled knife, syringe into cell

The police department is reviewing its policies and procedures after revealing a woman was placed into a holding cell with a knife and a syringe. Police also said she was left unhandcuffed, and the door to a room where she was later held was left open.

Police arrested Jennifer Berube, 39, and her husband, John MacLean, 36, in December at a drugstore, suspected of fraud and theft.

While in an interview room, Berube attempted to slit an officer’s throat with the knife she managed to sneak inside.

Berube and MacLean were searched and processed per department police, Chief James Baker said.

Officer Damon Nguyen, who had his back turned to Berube at the time, sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

Berube initially told investigation she found the knife on the floor of the interview room.

An investigation found Berube concealed the knife in her baggy, layered clothing. She was also found carrying a syringe and a hairclip, Baker said.

“I do not believe based on the review that any policies were violated, or any rules or regulations of the department were violated,” Baker said.

The chief said officers should have noticed warning signs with the couple, who did not cooperate with police, he said.

“At one point on the tape there is conversation between her and her husband that she has the knife,” Baker said.

Baker said he attributed the series of missteps to the lack of a thorough search and to officers simply tuning out the suspects.

While in the holding cell area, Berube and MacLean were recorded on surveillance talking about the knife.

“We lost valuable information that was being spoken between the two of them that we didn't hear,” Baker said. “That could have changed the outcome of this.”

Officers soon separated the couple, moving Berube to the interview room. She refused to sit down, a behavioral indicator Baker said has shown could lead to further violence.

Berube was handcuffed, but later taken to the bathroom. The handcuffs were not put back on when she returned to the interview room, the report said. She was also taken to a DUI interview room where the door was kept open, the report said.

Baker said officers also missed a conversation between the couple indicating a planned suicide. The report said Berube told her husband, “Don’t do it,” and “don’t leave me,” with MacLean responding, “This is it, remember what we talked about?"

Investigators later found shoelaces fashioned into a noose in the husband’s holding cell.

“And she made a decision that she was going to try to prevent that from happening by getting control of Officer Nguyen and allowing them to escape,” Baker said.

Berube then walked out of the DUI processing room, attacking Nguyen, the report said. Court documents said Berube cut Nguyen’s neck, missing an artery by one inch.

After the attack, Berube told police she is a heroin addict, and that her husband would kill himself before going to jail, court documents said.

The report indicates unlocking and unhandcuffing arrestees in the secure holding area created a dangerous situation for officers.

Recommendations include handcuffing and locking all arrestees after a thorough search, the report said.

It also recommends officers partake in training to understand behavior indicators where violence could escalate, standardizing the frisking and search processes before an arrestee is taken to the holding area.

Baker said members from the correctional department would help in some training.

Berube is being held without bail on an attempted murder charge.

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